Half to newell a



(N0 Model.)

" J. C. POSTER.

. GAR. N0. 276,017. Patented Apr.1'7.1883( UNITED STATES JOHN P. O.POSTER, OF NEW HAVEN, OONNEOTIOUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF T NEWELL A.THOMPSON, O]? BOSTON, MASSAOHUSETTS.

GAR.

SPECIFIGATION forming para of Letters Patent N0. 276,017, clated April17, 1883.

Application filed Febrnary 19, 1883.

all whom it mag; concern:

Be it known tbat I, JOHN P. O. Fos11m, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven, and in t'he State of Gonneeticut, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Cars; and I do hereby deolare tbat thefollowing is a full, olear, and exact desoription t-hereof, referenoebeing had to the aooompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecifioation, in whioh- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of myimproved convertible oar arranged f01 use as a platform or lumber oar.Fig. 2 shows a perspeotive view of the same arranged for use as a coalor ore um, With the bottom shntters closed. Fig. 3 shows a longitudinalseotion of Fig. 2 011 the line x x. withthe snutzters shown open indotted o1 broken lines, and tl1e end boards and their braoes sh0wn indotted lines as folded down. Fig. 4 shows a plan view of my cm arrangedas in Fig. 2, but with the shutters open.

Letters of like name and kind refer to llke parts in eaol1 of thefigures.

The object of my invention is broadly to provide a convertible carwhioh, as oooasion requires, may be readily changed from a platform to ndumping 0031 oar and back again without the use of tools; and to thisend it consists principally in a car-body having sitles made in severalseotions and hinged thereto so as to fold inward, am]. en(l boardslikewise hinged, but adapted to swing baokward and outward,substantially as and'for the purpose hereinafter speoified.

It eonsists, furt-her, in oombining with the dumping car-bottom thehinged side boords ada pted t0 fold. down npon 1;-he ear-bottom to makean even and continuous floor over tl1e same, substantially ashereinaftershown.

lt consists, further, in combining with the oar-bottom, with its uprightside stakes, ehe hinged side pieces and hinged en d boards, with theirsupports, seid end boards being adapted, when raised, to keep in anelevated position firmly against the said stakes tl1e end seetions ofthe hinged sides, substantially as hereinafter described anc1 seiforth.

II: consists, further,in the combination of the hin ged en(l boards,witl1 their hin ged supports,

with the hinged side sections having abutting edges beveled, asdescribed and shown, so that; tl1e end boards will not only kcep the endsecions 0f Lhe sides in an elevated position, but also the middleseotions, substantially as hereinafter more fully sei; forth.

II; consists, further, in providing Lhe car-bottom with hinged sidepieces and end boards so attaohed that: the engl boards fold down belowoho end seotions ofthe sides, so tlmt the si de sections shall make acontinuous and even floo1for tl1e support of lumber, &c., substantiallyas hereinafter specified.

II; consists, further, in combinin'g with the dumping bottom of the oaran opening and olosing device applied to the center one of the series ofshutters whichare connected together by eonnecting-rods, und operatingupon the otl1er shutters of the series through the 111edium of suchrods, snbstantially es hereinafter shown and set forth.

Iij consists, further, in combining witl1 the shaft of the center sl1ntter ofthe d umping bot tom a segmental mal: on the same, a piniongearing with the rack, and an operating handwheel, substantially es andfor tl1e pnrpose hereinafter set forth. lt consists, further, incombining with tll6 shutter-bottom having opening and closing devicesattaohed, and operating es hereinal'ter described, a lookin'g devioeconsisting of a hook orother device on the oar-body, engaging with 2bpin, staple, orothersnitable oorresponding part: abtaohed to theshutters or their couneoting-rod, ab o1 near the ce nter of the seriesof shu tters substantiall y ns hereinafter more full v deseribed; und itoonsists, finally, in tho general and speeial oombinations andiura'ngements of parts, as hereinal'ter desoribecl, und speoifioallypointed out in the olaims.

In the drawings, in whiohlhaveonly shown so mach of the cm as isnecessary to illustrate my invention, A A designate the' externalfranne-work of the bottom or body pxoper ot' the car. 'lhe longitudinalbraee-beams A A are beveled oft on their upper sides, as are also theoross-pieces 05 to faeilitato the discharge of ehe oontents of theeafwhen it is used for v IOO O O are closecl below, as shown, so as t0form receptacles R, into which the hin ged braoes F T0 tl1e body of tl1eam, ab some distanee from the ends, a1e hinged the end boards, 0 O. Theyare so hinged ut S S, below the plane of tl1e upper edges of the end undlongitudinal braoe-beams, and at; such a distance i'rom said endbeams,tliat they fold down below and out: of the way of tl1e endsections of the hinged sides of the car, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 3. 'Il1e end sections of the sides oun then, when folded down,rast: directly am] evenly upon the upper surfaces of the beamsA A and AA. Tl1e brace-beams A A n1e cut down, es shown in Fig. 3, from S totheir ends to a1- low the end boards to lie below the plane of the uppersnrfaee of the car-fram e, as dese'ribed.

As Will be seen in Fig. 2, the end boards will, when raised, keep theend sections oftl1e sides firmly in position against the upright sidestakes, and with tl1e abutting edges of the side seotions beveled,asshown in l ig. 4, the

- middle sections will be kept up firrnly in plaoe by the end sections,und tight; joints made, whether the sides are up 01 down. 3y thisarrangement I avoid any necessity for braces or supports to keep thesides frorn falling inward. The end boards, wheu thus elevated, serve tokeep all the side pieces also in an elevated position. The braces F Fare therel'ore the only ones needed for th e whole oar.

In my oonvertible car il; is espeoially dcsirable to use the slat orshntter for1n ot' dumping botton1. The shutters G G- are of tl1e o1dinary form, with their npper und lower edges oorrespondingly beveled,so that thoy will slightly overlap und make a tight bottom for the carwhen the shutters are olosed. (See Fig.2.)Theyarejournaled,pivoted,orhinged at' their upper edges in the usual wayto the longitudinal beams of the car, und near oheir lowet edges, attheir ends, are connected together by rods H H. I have shown theshutters as hinged to the beams A A only; bot; I do n0t limit myselftosuch oonstruction. rod 01 rock-shaft; upon which the center shutterswings has attaohed to it a segmental lever-arm, N, carryingsegmen't-ruck L. Gearing With this rack is a pinion, K, on the shaft Mof the hand-wheel I. Said shaft 1's suitablyjournaled in the frameofthecar. WVhere the shutters are for any reason to be made large und heavy,I prefer to extend this shaft M through the frame of the car und plaoeon tl1e other end a second pinion, 130 gear witl1 a correspondingsegmental rack 011 an arm 011 (hat end of the pivot; or rook shaft: oftl1e cen- T0 look the ter shutter, as shown in Fig. 4.

The'

shutters in u closed position I provide a hook 011 the side of thecar-body, adapted to engage with a staple on theeonneoting-rod, aboutmid way of the length 0f said rod, or to take over the rod ab thatpoint. A pin passing through a staple on the eonnecting-rod und into ahole in tbe side beam oan be used, or any such as a sliding holt:engaging with the eenter shutter or the segmental arm, or aspring-ratchet device to catoh in a notch of the shutter or segmentalarm as soon as the shutters are olosed. Asingle one or a numberof thesedevioes oan 0l' course be used, as desired. In the dra.wings I showthree on a sideone near the middle und one ab eaoh end of theconnecting-rod.

Il1e double arrangement ofoperating pinion und segment, as shownin Fig.4, together with the arrangernent of two connectingmodsone at ea-oh sideof the series of shutters-I lind especially desirable where aolose-fitting aud a positive movement of all the shutters is wished. yWith m y improved oar, as desoribed and shown, the change from a cool-cmto a lmnberoar und back again can be made wery easily and expeditiouslywithout tl1e use ot' tools or the removal of any of the parts. As thedifferent parts are all attached to the oar, neue ean be lost ormisplaced. The multiplication of props 01 fastenings, wherethe sidesaremade in sections, is avoided, und an even andclosefittingfloorisobtained when the sides are folded down. Because ofthe nttach1nent of tl1e closing meehanism for the du mping bottomdirectly to the center shutster of the connected series, all tl1eshutters are olosel y und accuratel y olosed, und the springing orbending of the oonneoting-rods is avoided.

Where, as heretofore, the olosing devices are att-uched ab or near theend of the connected series of shutters, those ab the end of the carfarthest from the said closing devices fail to 'be closed propex*ly onaccount of tl1is bending or buckling of the 1ods und the yielding 0xplay ot'tl1e parts throughout the length of the cm. By my arrangement Iavoid all this, and, if desired, I can adjust the shutters to any angleund be sure ahnt; they am all parallel. 'Ihe pinion and segment-rnckconnection emable me to make any such ad justment easily und positively,whetherin opening o1 olosing the shutters. Tbus the rate 0f disohurge ofthe oontents of tl1e oar can be regula-ted und made uniform throughoutthe length of the car.

Having thus fully sei; fo1th my invention, whal: I claim is l. Theoar-bottom provided with sides made in seveml sections end hingedthereto so as to fold inward, und end boards likewise hinged, bubadapted to swing backward and outward, substantially as and for thepurpose sei; forth.

2. In combination with the car bottom or body, With its upright sidestakes, the hinged side pieces am]. hinged end boards with theirsupports, seid end bozuds bein g hin ged in such a way thai; when raisedtl1ey will keep the end sect-ions of the sides in an elevated positionand firmly against the side stakes, substantially as and for the purposesei: forth.

3. The combinationof the hinged end boards, with their props, with thehinged sections 0f the sides,having their .abutting edges beveledsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The car-bottotn provided with hinged sides and hinged end boardsadapted 130 fold down below and out of the wayof the end sections of thesides, so that the sides can, when down, make zu continuous and evenfloor, substantially as und. for the pnrpose described.

5. The combin ationwith the dumpingbottom having the series 0f shutters,0f the opening and closing mechanism applied to the center shntter 0fthe series, and operating upon the others through themedium of a r0dconnecting the shutters substantially as and f0r the purpose sei; forth.

G. In combination with the pivot-shafl; 0f the center shutter, thedumping bottom, the arm, the segment-rack, the pinion gearing with therack, the hand-wheel, and the shafl; thereof, substantially as und f0rthe pnrpose described.

7. In a dumping car-bottom, the combinati0n o1 a series 0f connecteflshntters, the opening and elosing device applied t0 the center shutterot' the series, an l actuating the others through the medinm ot' a rodconnecting the shntters, and a, locking device for fastening theshntters when closed, substantially as described and shown. v

8. In a dumping car-bottom, the combinapr0ps 01 supports f0r the sarne,and a dumping bottom eomposed of shutters with suitable closing devices,all adapted to operate sulr stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimon y that; I claim the foregoingl have hereunto set m'y bandthis 15th day of February, 1883.

JOHN P. 0. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

JOHN H, WHITING, N. T. GUERNSEY.

